The ICJ organized a high level mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho in March 2013 to gather facts concerning a crisis in judicial leadership in this country.
The dispute emerged from a dispute between the office of the Chief Justice, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Lehohla1, and the office of the President of the Court of Appeal, presently occupied by the Honourable Justice M Ramodibedi, over the issue of which of them is the head of the judiciary.
The mission team’s objective was also to make recommendations on possible solutions to the crisis.
The ICJ considers that a resolution of this crisis is necessary to bring about harmony in the administration of justice in Lesotho, to facilitate access to justice, to protect the independence of the judiciary and to preserve public confidence in Lesotho’s judicial institutions.
The full mission report can be downloaded below.
Lesotho-Crisis judicial leadership-Publications-Mission report-2014-ENG (full text in pdf)